In plain words
The highest goal of life is the Ātma. That this is present everywhere is a fact well known to Bharatiyas. Some, taking the Vedas as their basis, some the scriptures, and yet others the experiences of great ascetic-masters, applying their own intellectual skill in each case, established this as proven fact. Many great souls, in their all-pervading quest for the Ātma, used their full power and capacity to discover that divinity. Prophets and scholars of the scriptures, whatever resolves each of them made and for whatever purpose they strove, brought their own resolves to fulfilment — and of this there exist countless proofs in Bharat. Among the crores of human beings, such a vision of the Ātma came only to a small portion of people. This sacred attainment shows that discernment and intellect reach their highest peak in man — a peak that the rest of creation's living beings never reach. For this reason the scriptures have proclaimed that man is the noblest of all creatures, and that a human birth is hard to obtain. Man alone is competent to search out the very cause of creation. For his own peace and security man makes use of this creation — this is the Veda's own authoritative word.
The Vedas, the foundational source of the Vedic religion, are the very voice of God given form. It is the doctrine of the Hindus that the Vedas are without beginning or end. By 'the Vedas' one does not mean mere books; they are the aphorisms of the highest Dharma, discovered at various times by various seekers after truth. These truths operated in their own way even before human beings knew them, and continue to operate exactly the same even after human beings have forgotten them.